Cessnas and Strawberries

Today we drove down to Mosselbay to get the "Papa Papa Delta". This is the airplane that Martin had to leave there on Saturday. The plane is actually called PPD, but in the radio alphabeth, which I find really funny, one sais the letters this way... While Martin checked the plane from outside, I climbed into a little cessna for my first time. I was surprised how small it actually is in there. The seats are so close together that you tough each others while sitting there. It was such a cool feeling to sit in there for the first time. Martin who had been checking the wings suddenly shouted: "You must come and see this. Things like that could only happen in Africa!" I couldn't believe it; there was a perfect birds nest in the engine! After all the checks outside, Martin climbed in, did a few checks there before he taxied to the runway and took off! I really can't wait to go with him. I drove of with our beautiful BMW.
Before getting to work I went to the post office in Klein Brak and we have a post box now, so if you wish to send us a letter just add P.O. Box 180 to the address:
Martin Mailänder, Marianne Trachsel
Casa Grande 9
Impala Weg
Reebok
P.O. Box 180
Klein Brakrivier
Mosselbay
South Africa
On the way to fetch Martin in the evening, I stopped at a strawberry farm. These little fruits look so delicious and as all the other vegetables here in South Africa, they taste great!

Martin is a private pilot!!!

Martin is a private pilot! In smooth conditions Martin took of for his private pilot test on Friday in the morning. He was tested on stalls and spins, had to show how to do a forced and precautionary landings, fly crosscountry, reading the map listening to the radio, follow their instructions and calculating his route new, if any changes appeared. He had to always radio correctly and perform all actions that a pilot has to do. He is so excited to have his licence and smiled all over the face, when I went to pick him up in the afternoon to go down to Herolds Bay. We just relaxed for a while in the warm sun and hearing the waves and Martin told me about his day. He had been so tense and nervous that he had shivered all morning and was so relieved that he actually passed his test! We went for a refreshing milkshake on this hot day. Because we had been wondering how it looks like when one gets out of this city streets we drove to the end of one. We got out of the car and crossed a field. Some strange birds flew out of the high dry grass. We went through ferns, which were just opening their leaves and through knee-high shrubs until we reached a sheer with a little mystical creek. On the rocks grew tiny white flowers. We were so surprised to find such a nice place only a few metres away from the busy town. We celebrated this special day at the Panarottis, where we had a nice Italian meal with a good glass of Rosé.
On Saturday Martin went for a flight. Suddenly I received an sms from him saying that he would fly over our house in 1 minute. I ran out to the pool because I thought that he might see me there. He made a nice circle above our house and I waved. He did really see me! It’s so strange to think that this is actually him, up in the air in this little aircraft. Soon I will fly for my first time with him! We only have to get my headset and we will take off together. I am so excited. After he had circled over our house, he planned to land in George, but the tower wouldn’t let him land because there was too much wind. He had to go land in Mosselbay instead and was picked up by a friend from the college. The plane is still there now, waiting to be picked up when the weather gets better. It is so cloudy and cold at the moment. On Sunday we just stayed at home. Martin studied hard the whole day and I sewed. It was such a quiet atmosphere and very relaxing.

About us and the county we are staying in...

The flying conditions are just perfect! Martin had two cross country flights to Oudtshoorn, Ladysmith, Riversdale and back to George on Friday with Schoeman and on Saturday on his own. The two flights were each about 3 hours and he loved them. They were beautiful from the lanscape, but still he was exhausted after them, because he has to concentrate so hard. These flights brought him a large step towards his PPL, which is now really close. He will have his pretest on the next bright day and his test on the following one, so by the end of this week he will have his licence. I can't wait for my first flight and am so excited to see this country from an other perspective. Yesterday the Springboks, which is South Africas Rugby team, played in the finals against England in France. We can now understand what is meant by the saying "sport unites", which we didn't quite understand when we were still in Switzerland. People wear the Springbok t-shirt, have South African flags painted onto their cheeks or even their whole face, carry flags with them ... they clearly indicate that they are feeling with the team. There was probably no household where the TV wasn't on to watch this importand game. For the first time we switched our TV on and watched some of the game as well They won!
Yesterday I spent the afternoon cooking. I first baked a NEw York cheese cake, which looks really nice. We haven't tried it though, because it still has to rest in the fridge. We will do that with some lovely South African tea this afternoon. I then started cutting mushrooms, aubergine, zucchinis, tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic and basil. Can you guess what for? Lasagne! I cooked these ingredients, made a white sauce and boiled the pasta sheets, before layering them into an oven dish. We had a delicious supper with a green salad as a starter and some good South African red wine.
I love cooking and having seen "no reservations" at the cinema on Friday night made me want to improve my cooking skills and perfect them. Nice food really makes the difrence to a great lifestyle. I enjoy being able to spend so much time on cooking.

A little breakdown...

You won't believe what happened to us last weekend. In the late afternoon we drove to the Langenberg Mall where we had arranged to meet Nita (the agent who found our apartment) at five o'clock. We went into the mall to get some flowers for her and when we got back to the car we couldn't turn the ignition on. Martin tried and tried, unscrewed parts, checked all the wires and fuses, but couldn't find the mistake. So we drove to Dana Bay, where Nita and her family lives and decided to find a solution later. They live in a big house on a cliff, with a beautiful view of the sea. We sat and the balcony and talked for quite a while, before Nita and I went into the kitchen and prepared salads and Kubus (her husband) showed Martin how to prepare a South African braai. A braai is a special grill. Every apartment has one (we too, but we didn't really know how to use it). The coal takes quite a long time to get really hot. They are both Rugby fans and since it is very close to the final, which is this weekend Rugby was on on TV. It was a very relaxed atmosphere, we laughed and enjoyed ourselves. Later we ate the great, colourful salads. We had no idea how to get back to the mall, what to do with the car... But they helped us to solve the problem. The borrowed us one of their cars, which was so nice of them.
On Sunday we drove to the mall again and while I did some shopping, Martin tried again to find the mistake, but nothing was wrong, just the ignition lock didn't move. We drove around the area to find a place where we could have it fixed and found one close by. Martin phoned this guy and he told us that he will fix it on Monday, we should just leave him the key. We enjoyed a lovely vegetarian burger at Wimpy and drove home, Martin told the Flight Training College that he couldn't come on Monday and I told the plaschool that I wasn't able to get there. There is simply no way to get anywhere without a car! Nita, Kubus and their daughter came to pick up the car and we had a nice tea time.
On Monday we just stayed at home, Martin studied and I read. We were so glad that we got the car back in the afternoon so that we could drive to the college by half past 3 and Martin could start his lectures for the Commercial Pilot Licence. I went to gym in the mean time.
Today everything was back to normal again. The weather is beautiful and Martin can fly twice! We are having the care cleaned inside and outside today to make it look perfect.
We are well, apart of this little breakdown and enjoy the sunny summer close to the sea! It is so beautiful...

Summertime in South Africa...

The summer has now really started. It is nice, warm and the sun shines every day to give me the opportunity to drive to Herold's bay (a nice litttle beach close to the airport) every afternoon. One afternoon the two of us drove down and discovered moving creatures on the street. It took us some time to realise that they were huge locusts mating. Sadly a lot of people don't care about those little animals and drive over them.
While I was on the beach, enjoying the nice weather, Martin did too because he could fly a lot. He made a big step towards his PPL. We can speak of luck that he is still alive though. I had such a fright, when he told me what had happend to him and his favourite instructor Schoeman. After Martin had realised that his plane had an error, they gave the plane into repair. After repair, another pilot took the plane and did low level flights. After this flight, Martin and Shoeman got in and started doing all the checks a pilot does before departing. But the throttle just couldn't get pushed in. So Shoeman got out and started to open the whole outside of the plane and started to swear. The repair people had left a gripper inside it!!! This could have cost their lives if the gripper had gotten stuck while they were practising emergency landing on that day. I couldn't believe that something like that had happend and it seemed like a miracle to me that I was sitting in the car next to Martin.
He loves flying here in South Africa where nearly everything is allowed compared to Switzerland. Some friends heard Martin and Shoeman in the radio and told them where they are on the highway, so they flew down right over the highway and waved at them...

On Friday we had a party at the playschool. A girl had her 3rd birthday which she celebrated at the school with a jumping castle, a fairy cake, lots of presents from all the kids and painted faces. That was fun, especially because the weather was so nice.

Last night we had our night out. We went to our favourite pizza place, called Panarottis and watched a funny movie at the cinema. We love going to the cinema, especially here, where a ticket only costs 2.25 Swiss Francs. Next to the cinema is a really nice pool (billiard) place, where we played a game and enjoyed that very much.
Tonight we are invited for a braai with Nita (the agent, who found this apartment for us), her family and the secretary from the renting office, who I had spoken to a lot. We look really forward to this barbecue and our first evening in company.

just a little update...

It is so great that the weather is so sunny at the moment and that the wind is not as strong anymore as it was during the last couple of days. Martin had a splendig flying lesson yesterday, which made him so happy. He is also back with the teacher he used to have a year a go, who is a brilliant tutor and will help him make his PPL in perfect way.
I am happy at the playschool as well and I am so impressed what these kids are taught, eventhough they are still so small. In the morning when they arrive they play with toys on the carpet, but when Marianne (the teacher) clapps her hands and sais: "Clean up everybody!", it only takes a few seconds and all the toys are pur away nicely in baskets. Before they have their snack at 10 o'clock they all fold their hands, close their eyes and sing "thank you father for our food".
I can not believe that we have only been here for less than two weeks... I have gotten so used to our lifestyle here.
Last night we enjoyed a meal out at a pizza place and just chatted for a long time. Tonight we will go out to a place close to our house. We are really getting to know the place now that everything is sorted out and we are settled.

Hi everybody...

Hi everybody... We are really getting used to living in our little flat now. Today we even bought a small heater because we thought it was worth the 150 Rand not to freeze all the time when we are at home. And I got a cell phone now as well. The number is as follows: +27 76 508 29 30.
I really love the playschool I am going to every day. The Christmas play is getting better every day. The kids are making me laugh all the time and they are so cute.
Martin had a great day yesterday. You should have seen his happy face when I met him at the gym last night. In the morning he was so disappointed because the weather wasn't that great but then the sun came out and he had a beautiful flight. He is studdying so hard and I admire how he does that.
At this point we would like to thank all the people who visit our blog for all your interest. We are so happy to share a little part of our life with you and it is always so kind to get e-mails and hear from your side what you are doing...

Our first "working" day...

Our first "working" day is over. We are quite satisfied with ourselves. Martin could fly once this morning and had a lot of time to study for a test he is going to write tomorrow. He will start his commercial pilot lectures in two weeks time.
Unfortunately I still don't have my mobile phone, so he couldn't call me and tell me that he has already finished at 10 o'clock.
After I had dropped Martin off at the college, I drove to the playschool in Heatherlands. Because I didn't find it at first, I drove around and could get a picture of the surrounding area. It's quite upmarket with nice locked-up villas. The playschool serves the needs of the mothers living in these houses. They don't work and mostly have a nanny but drop their kids off at playschool in the mornings, while they go shopping or go to gym.
Marianne Franklin, the woman in charge of the school is a really kind lady, as are the two women working with her. There are 24 kids aged between 2 and 4 years. At the moment, they are learning little sentences and songs for a christmas play. Since the school holidays start on the 1st of December they will do this play a bit before Christmas.
Had I known that Martin was already waiting for me when I left the playschool just after 12, I would have gone to fetch him. Instead I rushed to the Garden Route Mall intending to get my phone, which wasn't there...
We had a good first day, are quite tired though and are looking forward to a good nights sleep. As there is no heating in our apartment, no isolation and the weather still quite chilly, we are a bit cold. We are looking forward to the summer when the weather is better and Martin can also fly a bit more...